Gear & Gadgets —

Amazon Kindle attempts to reignite e-book market

Ars attended a speech by Jeff Bezos in New York today, in which he introduced Amazon's foray into e-book readers, the Kindle. He started his talk by noting that books have remained similar in form for centuries, even as the technology for producing them has changed. "They're the last bastion of analog. Books have stubbornly resisted digitalization," he said, "A book is so suited to its task that it's very hard to displace." Given that Bezos doesn't feel that you can "outbook the book," the Kindle is an attempt to take the best qualities of books and supplement them with modern capabilities.

The Kindle was designed to evoke books so that the device, as Bezos put it, "disappears" and the reader becomes immersed in the author's world. Kindle comes in an off-white color and has a shape with hard edges, much like a hardback. Its main controls are for page turning, and those are wide buttons arranged on the edges so that pages can be turned no matter how a reader is holding the device. But the presence of a small keyboard and other controls may limit the immersion; it will be hard to tell without extended use.

Those additional controls help extend the book beyond what's possible in print. Users can select text for annotation or to keep as clippings (they can be accessed on a PC). A given line of text can be selected for lookup in the Oxford American Dictionary; all the words on the line will be defined, saving the user the hassle of making individual selections. The Kindle can also access Wikipedia through a built-in browser if more detailed information is needed. Oddly, most of the information pops up above the text on the book screen, while the selection and progress indicators reside in a separate LCD outside the main screen. Some of this seems to go against the idea of reader immersion that was supposed to inspire the device.

Access to Wikipedia and other web resources comes through an EVDO wireless connection. That wireless connection also enables access to a Kindle-specific Amazon store, which lets users purchase and download books for $9.99 without relying on a PC. Users can still purchase books when off the network or when overseas by using a PC and then transferring the content to a Kindle via USB or an SD card. Each Kindle will get its own e-mail address, allowing users to send themselves attachments for viewing, as well—Kindle will handle .docs, HTML, and several common image formats. Users can also subscribe to popular blogs and newspapers for monthly fees, and content will be refreshed automatically. DRM on the device is handled at the account level, allowing a family that shares an account to swap content, just as they would swap books.

Jeff Bezos browses Amazon's Kindle store.

The potential killer feature is that Amazon covers the cost of the EVDO connection as part of Kindle's $399 price; the user will never see a bill. Given that Amazon's footing the bill, Kindle's support of activities beyond the intended usage is spotty. E-mail support is limited to receiving attachments. Any additional use of e-mail will have to come through unsupported use of the browser, which is fairly stripped down. The pages seem to be roughly the complexity of those that are formatted for cellphones, although the screen improves their appearance. Audio books or music files can be played, but they have to be transferred to the Kindle over USB or its SD card slot, as downloading this content isn't an option. The wireless access can also be revoked should the user "abuse" the service; the definition of abuse appears in the service agreement.

Hardware-wise, the Kindle weighs just over 10 ounces (about 300 grams), and is ruggedized to survive frequent drops. It also comes with a leather protective case. The Kindle's battery is replaceable, and will run for over a week with the wireless shut off. The screen is 600x800 with a six-inch diagonal, and uses the same E Ink technology as Sony's Reader. The Kindle comes with 256 MB of RAM, and the Linux-based operating system leaves 180MB of that for user content. Up to 1,000 books could be handled when storage on SD cards is included. Amazon wouldn't discuss the processor that powered the device.

Right now, Amazon has 90,000 books available, and it has big plans to expand and update the Kindle and its associated content. The company has already looked at color E Ink prototypes, and are starting a "Kindle Compatible" program for other companies to manufacture accessories for the device. In addition, Amazon is launching a digital text platform that will allow individuals to self-publish in a Kindle-compatible form, which should improve the amount of content, if not the quality.

It's clear that the Kindle is part of a major push into digital content for Amazon, one that has required a lot of behind-the-scenes work and alliances with other companies. As of right now, however, the success of this specific part of the venture depends on the selling power of the Kindle. Although the unlimited wireless access is a strong selling point, the networking capabilities of the device appear fairly limited. And the $399 starting price seems a bit high for a device with these limitations and some really questionable aesthetics.